Of Smoke and Love
by Niami94
Summary: Sometimes, love comes at you too late. And once you realize that, it's over.


I was deleting some of my old documentson my laptop when I found this. Amazingly, I still knew the password to it. I was in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon for New Years and all you could see was gun powder smoke in the air. I had a perspective and time tense paper due the day we came back from vacations and i still hadn't written anything out. That encouraged me to write this 2 days before it was due. The first part is all in future tense while the second part is present tense. The fiinrst persperctive is all knowing and the second is... partial knowing[????) Ino.

* * *

It would almost be the middle of the night. Everyone would be waiting for that final bell to ring. Gunshots of celebration could be heard all around. There would hardly be any fireworks, but those few would be some of the most beautiful she'd see in her life. 

_Only five more minutes_, Ino would think.

She'd look around and see all of those who were important to her: Her parents; Kurenai with her and Asuma's newborn baby; Sakura and Naruto; Chouji and his parents; Almost all the Nara family.

Everyone would there... except for one.

_Where's Shikamaru? He's gonna miss all the festivities_, she'd worry. He'd be running late. A mission, his mother'd said, had run just a bit late.

It would seem ridiculous to Ino that Lady Tsunade would assign missions so late in the year. But, of course, ninja were ninja.

It wouldn't seem like New Year's Eve without everyone there to her, though she'd mask her true feelings with smiles.

That night, Ino would say hello to everyone. She'd be there to comfort Kurenai and would meet her new son. She'd talk a bit with Chouji, playing around how it really was too bad that some of their friends were gone for the night. She'd be just as shocked as everyone else when Naruto announced Sakura's pregnancy without her consent. She would sit down and talk to Shikamaru's parents for just a bit when a gunshot would be fired too close to her head.

_**BOOM!**_

_Nothing to freak out about. It's just another gunshot, _she'd assure herself. _Everyone does that to substitute firework..._ She would look up at the clock tower and think,_ Almost two minutes... I guess this'll be the first time in twenty four years Shikamaru won't be here._

The gunshots would begin to be heard more often now. The air would begin to cloud with smoke. The smell could fill your lungs and you'd swear that you hadn't been smoking but that's not what your breath would say.

Ino would go inside for just a bit to clear her head of smoke when she'd hear it. His drowsy voice, now, almost awake, would be calling her name.

* * *

"Shikamaru?" 

"Ino?"

And I saw him from the window.

"Shikamaru!," I ran from the front kitchen to just in front of him.

He was here. He was casually leaning to the door frame with his hands in his pockets. His eyes seemed just a bit bloodshot, just like after any mission these days.

I walked the rest of the way over to him and wrapped my arms around him. He followed my motion and we stayed silent. Soon, we could hear Naruto start the countdown and others soon followed.

5!

4!

**3!**

_**2!**_

_**1!**_

A silent second passed until every voice, firework and gun started up at the same time...

_**HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!**_

I looked up at the sky and marveled at the fireworks. A million gun shots were heard at once and didn't stop. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Shikamaru looking at me with a small smile on his face. A few seconds later, he reached the side of my face and moved my face to face him. He lowered his face just a little bit and lightly pecked my lips.

"Happy New Year, Ino," he whispered.

I lifted myself up just a little bit and gave him a little kiss.

"Happy New Year, Shikamaru," I whispered back.

He held me just a bit tighter and put his head over mine.

I could just about faint from feeling so many emotions.

I convinced Shikamaru to let me walk a couple of streets down with Sakura and Naruto to congratulate them.

This night just didn't seem to be to fill up with happiness; more and more just kept coming.

Once I decided to give them their space, I walked home alone.

It was only one-forty-six in the morning, but gunshots continued to be shot from a short distance away. No fireworks,_ gun_shots.

I decided to steer clear of any bars where drunks could fire at me. After a short way, a group of eight men, clearly drunk, were walking from the other side of the street. I almost went back running to Sakura and Naruto's house, but decided that if I ran, I would only be bringing the danger to them.

I did trot back, though.

Until, one of the called out at me.

"Hey, pretty girl! What's your name?"

I ignored him and hurried on my way, acting as if I hadn't heard him.

"Hey, girly!," he yelled. With that, a loud click of a gun handle was heard.

I stopped dead in my tracks and walked backwards to the group.

They formed a semicircle around me and seemed to enjoy seeing me shake in my shoes.

The one that had originally called me started, "what's your name?"

"I'm Ino, Ino Yamanaka."

Surprise filled his features, "Oh, a Yamanaka, you say?"

"Yes, sir."

He turned to his left and called out to a red headed man there.

"Hey, Rouduike! Did you hear that? A Yamanaka!"

"I heard you!," Rouduike said to him.

One of the other men, a faded blonde with scars on his face, grabbed my arm and pulled me towards him.

He yelled, "Gimme your gun, will ya?" along with some profanities, to a red headed over his shoulder.

He threw me down and pointed the gun at me.

"Any last words?"

I gulped. There were actually a whole set of words that I wanted to say before I died.

And before I got a chance to utter those final words, I heard an explosion near my ear a-and... I was gone.


End file.
